Pauline Collins has died at the age of 85.

The Oscar nominee was best known for her role as bored housewife, Shirley Valentine.

"We are heartbroken to announce that Pauline Collins died peacefully at her care home in Highgate this week, having endured Parkinson's for several years," a statement released by the actress's family read. "She was surrounded by her family."

The statement went on to describe Collins' long career as an actress, with special attention to her most famous role.

"Pauline was so many things to so many people, playing a variety of roles in her life. A bright, sparky, witty presence on stage and screen," it read. "Her illustrious career saw her play politicians, mothers and queens. She will always be remembered as the iconic, strong-willed, vivacious and wise Shirley Valentine - a role that she made all her own. We were familiar with all those parts of her because her magic was contained in each one of them."

Collins was not only Oscar nominated for her role as Shirley Valentine but also received a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her stage performance of the role.

Married to fellow actor John Alderton since 1969, Collins had three children - Nicholas, Kate and Richard - with him. She also had an older daughter, Louise, whom she and the baby's father, Tony Rohr, gave up for adoption in 1964.

Alderton shared a separate tribute to his late wife.

"Pauline Collins was a remarkable star. I had the great good fortune to have worked with her more than any other actor in our many TV series, films and West End stage shows together, and watched her genius at close quarters," he wrote.

"What I saw was not only her brilliant range of diverse characters but her magic of bringing out the best in all of the people she worked with. She wanted everyone to be special and she did this by never saying 'Look at me'. It's no wonder that she was voted the nation's sweetheart in the 1970s.

"She will always be remembered for Shirley Valentine, not only for her Oscar nomination or the film itself, but for clean-sweeping all seven awards when she portrayed her on Broadway in the stage play, in which she played every character herself.

"But her greatest performance was as my wife and mother to our beautiful children."